So You Want to Get Married
by SamAP
Summary: A short one shot that takes place between TF 1&2. This describes how Cybertronians get married and such. You can refer or base your stories after this if you would like.


_So this is a quick one shot that explains how Cybertronians get married (at least how I imagine they do). You can refer to this story in your story if you want, I just thought I'd make it easier for you all. If you do, please, if it's not too much to ask, credit my name. So other people can refer to this too if they need help with their stories. You can alter it however you would like. This isn't in too much relation to my other stories. It takes place between Transformers and RoTF._

_Also, if you don't know already, my stories are set in a time before 2007. It's not a specific time but it's well before 2007. Of course, since I'm not a historian—or chronologically correct, for that matter—if you see anything in my story that exists after 2007 then ignore it and pretend that magic… Yes… Do that… Magic…_

_**Alter Ego:**__ Thanks for putting another story up while we wait for another big one! Can I say the disclaimer?_

_**Me:**__ Of course!_

_**Alter Ego: She doesn't own anything except the concept of this type of marriage and her OC.**_

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><p>There in the unnecessarily spacious hallway trotted a human. But this human was no ordinary, stiletto-clicking human. She was mechanical. An average stranger wouldn't be able to identify this mechanical alien past her conservative pencil skirt that limited her naturally long strides or her smart, white, buttoned-up shirt that had rolled up sleeves and stood bare without the protection of a blazer. It was far too hot of a day for such restrictions.<p>

Even her hair had a say against the suffocating heat as it curled into a hastily done bun on the top of her head. Regardless of her human limits, she needed that particularly unforgiving form in order to follow through the task at hand.

With thin, weightless boxes in her grasp, she climbed up the grated metal steps to her office, praying silently that her heels don't get caught on the holes as they often did. Gracefully, she stopped in front of her door that beautifully overlooked the greasy concrete below. Her glossy, brown door held the title "Nova Marx; Autobot/Human Relations."

It was just a fancy title for Nova the Liaison, which in turn was just a more dignified title for Nova the Paper Filer or Nova the Brick Wall Between Two Childish Species. That's what she thought of her friends, human and robot alike. They both needed someone to be the bearer of bad news or the one who did the dirty work and they shoved her into the front of the line because, "Who better than the best of both worlds?" they'd often lie meekly.

At least today would be slightly more interesting than others. As Nova nudged the door open, the gracing wave of conditioned air lulling her in, she spotted a fellow human sitting cross-legged on her bare desk, searching through a loaded data-pad.

"Having fun?" Nova breathed sarcastically, smiling brightly as she was met with wide eyes.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Mikaela returned honestly. She was asked to stay behind on the base with the 'Bots while the human government tried to figure out what to do with her. Nobody minded. She was a grease monkey at heart and it just so happened that her new best friends are all vehicles. It was a match made in heaven.

"I didn't know you were actually in Japan. That's so cool," the teenager exclaimed in a gasp, referring to the information found in the data-pad that Nova used to log her journey.

"Yeah? Well, stick around with me and I can get you places," Nova kidded with a smirk, placing the light cargo of boxes onto her desk. "You really like that data-pad, don't you?"

"Are you kidding? Ratchet should mass produce these and sell them. Americans would go crazy for something like this," Mikaela confided, slipping it away into its appropriate drawer and looking at what Nova had brought for them to work on.

"Well, this is the last of the load, now all we have to do is file them," Nova informed with a sad sigh. Oh how long it will take to file all those papers.

"Hey, at least your very good human friend has already started you off and opened up the first five boxes," Mikaela tried, showing dramatically how she neatly opened the paper-wielding boxes that were there previously.

"Mikaela, my hero," Nova wept jokingly.

"Yes, I know, I'm amazing," she returned, opening the first file cabinet and grabbing a stack of scribbled-on documents.

And so the two began to work, sorting and filing accordingly. The child would often make small talk with the aged warrior—no, Nova wasn't a warrior, she was a glorified accountant. Sometimes one topic got to a point of in depth discussion, other times it died along with the rest of the words. One thing remained constant, although. Nova was slightly drifting away into a thought, a daydream.

For no apparent reason, Mikaela found her smiling to herself, giggling at times, and even biting her lip in order to contain the glee. Her curiosity got the best of her when Nova started humming. It wasn't unusual for that particular 'Bot to hum simple melodies but in a situation like this, it meant something significant.

"Okay, there is something different with you. Why are you, like, extra happy today?" she finally asked, handing the third to last box to Nova so she could open it.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing," Nova answered in a dazed voice, her tone regarding the large smile that inched as she thought more on her daydream.

Mikaela eyed her suspiciously, immediately knowing from her experience as a girl that Nova had something to say.

"Okay, spill. I want to know all of it, now," the teen automatically said, clearing off some space on the desk so they both could sit in a gossiping stance, legs crossed and heads dipped.

Unable to contain the details, Nova succumbed to the ancient ritual of gossiping, flying her mouth a mile a minute.

"All right! I can't keep it in anymore. So, you remember when we took that mini-vacation on the other side of this island?" Nova began in a hushed tone, as if the very walls would betray her privacy. "Well, things got heated between Optimus and me," she relayed with a hint of a squeal. There was no shame in her words for nothing seemed wrong in telling this to one of her closest friends.

Mikaela felt the same. Friends may tell secrets, best friends could tell hidden truths, but sisters must tell about their love lives.

"Hold on, that's not all," Nova continued, squirming ever the slightest, "I think—it's only a thought—but I think… hold on… he might… propose!" That's when the laughter and squeals of joy ensued, the blind happiness of two women sharing stories and ambitions.

Seeing as how these offices on this wing of the base weren't necessarily built to contain screaming ladies who had a lot to say, their voices more or less carried easily. Ironically enough, it was a certain mech who picked up on the terrifying sounds first.

Optimus Prime was walking across the open area in front of the string of offices. His sensitive audios flinched at the pitch of the horrible sound emanating from a human's office. Intent on quelling the problem, he shifted down into the massive Peterbilt he is and let the holoform materialize. For time's sake, he appeared on the balcony, right in front of the door. Only when he read the name plaque that signified relative importance behind the door did he panic.

The state of the wooden barricade meant nothing to him as he swung it open violently and inspected the contents of the room.

"Nova, are you functional?" he immediately asked, rushing to check his femme, then over to check the human when his scans showed nothing alarming.

The ladies shared a secret look between themselves. A look that clearly stated, "Oh my goodness, that is just adorable at how worried he is for you!"

"What has happened in here? I detected distress," Optimus stated confusedly, swearing that he definitely heard something.

The two sitting nonchalantly on the desks adopted serious yet all too knowing looks on their faces.

"Nothing, baby, why?" Nova asked as regularly as possible, hoping he didn't detect her uncharacteristic moment there. It was a known fact that Nova could lie, but she couldn't lie her way out of death against Optimus. Even her optics betrayed her as they refused to connect with the Prime's.

"I-I heard screaming," he said almost experimentally, testing to see if these women may or may not know of what he's talking about.

Mikaela snorted a laugh but quickly covered it up as a cough, avoiding the reprimanding glare from her metallic counterpart.

"Nope, no screaming here," Nova relayed, popping her "P." "Did you hear screaming, Mikaela?" she asked the girl in an almost unnatural way. Maybe acting wasn't really Nova's forte.

"Nuh-uh, not a single peep. Maybe you should have Ratchet check your ears, Optimus. Or—no, no, wait, I got this—they're called audios, right?" Mikaela asked, testing her Cybertronian knowledge. She had read that word multiple times in the data-pad, using only context clues to help her.

"Of-of course. Apologies for interrupting your work, whatever it may be," he bid, leaving the room in such a state of confusion. What… what just happened?

After a minute or two of dead silence, Mikaela spoke up once again, intent on juicing every word out of this topic.

"So, tell me wha—," she started, pausing only because of the finger Nova held up. The mechanical woman glared at the door as if she were waiting for it to start dancing an offense dance. She slid off the dark, glossy desk and silently padded across the short carpet. It was the type of carpet that one would find at an airport or even a movie theater.

Nova placed an audio to the door, searching for a sound, waiting for the repetitive patterns to fall into place. She heard familiar sounds that told her just what was behind the door. With a swift motion that could rival a humming bird's, Nova swung open the flimsy barrier, unapologetic of the force she used.

Mikaela was standing now, walking towards her friend when she heard the sound of impact.

"What the frag are you two doing here?" Nova asked in a sharp tone that could make any man cry in a corner. "Bee? Sam? Any answers?" she snapped, looking at her adolescent brother and her adolescent friend as they were sprawled on top of each other on the narrow walkway.

"We were just, uh, inspecting the doors!" Sam lied nasally as he checked the door for whatever fake test he put it through. "Yep, that is a door… for sure. You know, these doors should really open inwards. You wanna tell Lennox with me, Bee?"

"Eavesdrop much?" Mikaela grumbled, hands folded in irritation as Nova's were placed firmly on her hips. The two boys were struggling to get up from their spot on the floor, rubbing their noses simultaneously.

"We heard gossip, what do you think we're supposed to do? Ask you about it?" Sam rebutted after a moment, earning a strong nod from Bumblebee.

The poor mech was dragged into Samuel's shenanigans and was now forced to fight for the losing side. Perhaps he shouldn't be so lenient when it comes to this human and his sister. It was a known and tested fact that his sister never loses an argument to a mech.

Never.

If her opponent ever seemed to be winning, it would be because Nova let them. He's seen a lot of that back in the day.

"Hmm, true. I guess we could tell you about it" Mikaela hummed, a finger tapping her soft chin as her pupils drifted to the side in thought. At that moment, the two ladies shared the same glance and burst out in repressed laughter.

"Yeah, right! Like we'd tell you guys _anything_," Nova managed to choke out, lungs threatening to stop breathing through her gasps of mirth. The door slammed shut behind the women as they left the two boys dumbfounded in what just happened. The lock clicked loudly before Nova joined Mikaela back in their seat on the desk.

The work they were supposed to be doing was long forgotten with this new topic at the forefront of their mind. At least the suffocating laughter died down as every wasting second passed.

Mikaela was now exploring a particular topic in her mind. Nova mentioned Optimus proposing to her, but proposing was a human gesture. Were their customs for marriage similar? Did they date? Were there even levels or bases in their relationships?

"What are you thinking about?" Nova asked silently, watching as imagination could be seen through the young female's eyes.

"Oh, nothing. It's just… how…? No, it's-it's stupid," Mikaela shrugged off, dismissing her small fantasy.

"Oh, come on. It can't be _that_ dumb. I can handle it, promise," Nova swore, holding up her right hand. This conversation had suddenly become ten times more interesting. It could be said now that no more paperwork was to be done for the rest of the day.

"Okay then, I was just curious." No, curious wasn't the word. That word was too weak. Mikaela was… was… "Needing the knowledge, even. How—How do relationships work as a Cybertronian? Is—Is it the same as humans?" she asked almost apprehensively, determining the perfect words to use so as not to upset the alien.

Nova was slapped silent for a while. She hadn't expected Mikaela to be interested or even acknowledge the way things worked on Cybertron. Then again, this woman was in fact a _woman_ and an engineer rolled up into one. Ingenuity and curiosity were bound to come knocking on everyone's door, hand in hand.

"I-I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have asked that," Mikaela started, back tracking and erasing the thoughts from her mind. She probably overstepped some sort of boundary or something.

"No, no, no, your question was fine," Nova immediately assured, shaking her head passionately. "It's just… it's been so long that I've been in an actual relationship. Not that I'm the type of femme who does one night stands. In fact, I don't think I've ever been in a serious relationship. I'd consult my earlier vorns, but that part of me is just too hazy to recall. Probably battle damage."

She never really lingered on her past. Not only was it painful and full of mistakes, but there were always so many holes that it scraped her scalp if she ever tried piecing things together. An irking headache was threatening to explode as of right now.

"Well, to start, I guess it would be similar to human relations. Um, first of all, a mech must court a femme or the other way around, whatever the scenario may be. They do go on dates, the whole shebang. After a while, they can take it to the next level of being mates, an equivalent of girlfriend and or boyfriend," Nova explained, tapping her temple, trying to find a way to make this easier to show Mikaela. Maybe a few of her memories could be projected, if she even had those kinds of scenes.

"Is that what you and Optimus did?" Mikaela inquired in a hoarse whisper, drifting in and out of a reverie. She was imagining herself as a robot in love, what it would be like to find a mech within the carnage of a war.

"Oh please, that's the farthest thing from what Optimus and I went through," Nova snorted, lying down on the desk with her legs dangling from the edge. The stretch in her thighs released the tension from the almost-headache she had.

"Ooh, are you guys one of those love-in-the-last-place-you'd-expect type stories?" she asked happily, glancing at the sprawled girl.

"In a sense, I guess. I'm sure you know this by now, but Optimus is a Prime. Not only that, but he's probably the last one. That means that he's super special and important. His love life is a whole other story. I don't even know how I managed to squeeze myself smack dab into his life."

"Tell me?" Mikaela begged like a curious child.

"He can't just fall in love with just anyone. It has to be as precise as battle plans because if he falls for the wrong femme, it will end up fatally, literally. Like, um, well first you should know that after a couple has been going out for a while, the mech usually would propose. But not with the same type of ring you think of," Nova continued, finally finding a picture of the ring she was speaking of. The ring materialized in front of her optics as a pale, choppy blue, rotating minimally so it could be viewed from all perspectives.

"Another word for proposing is marking. This ring is made from the mech's very spark. Not only is that painful, it's a crazy commitment. The ring is placed around the femme's spark like how Saturn's rings hug the planet. Once the ring is in place, it kind of fans out and turns into a bubble-like shield around the femme's spark. It signifies a promise that at the right time, those two could get bonded. I'll explain that later. It also acts as a warning to other mechs. If they try to take that femme away, something horrible _will_ happen to them."

"Now that's commitment," Mikaela whistled, eyes widening. She eyed the portrayal of a ring and like how it seemed to be surrounded in lightning bolts and swirling energy. For lack of better words, it was pretty.

"Yup, the ring shines through the femmes two layers of protoform and even past any armor she has during extreme emotion," Nova continued.

"_Two_ protoforms?" Mikaela reiterated, thinking that Autobots were naked to begin with. Apparently armor was just like clothing. Except this armor that her friends wear are programmed specifically for war.

"Well, yeah. The first layer is… well, exactly what it sounds like, being completely exposed. The second layer is… um… I guess it would be like underwear in human terms." It was fun explaining things to Mikaela. Not only did Nova seem twenty times smarter than usual, she was actually learning from herself, revisiting old and forgotten facts.

"All right, so what's after marking? Is there a big celebration, like a wedding?" the teen pressed, fully engulfed in this, as if she'd ever need to know how to marry a robot any time soon.

"Well, not exactly. The two sparkbond, practically like an unannounced marriage, but much more intimate. Bonding two sparks is forever and cannot be undone. It makes two beings one, a perfect unity. If you try to break a bond apart, one, if not both, 'Bots die. Same with if one 'Bot were to die during some freak accident, the other is sure to follow. It's very rare that one survives without the other. I mean, think about it, it would be like someone taking away half your heart," Nova analyzed, putting this into the simplest words she could.

"Ouch," Mikaela breathed, placing a hand over her heart. That sounded barbaric, ripping a spark—a heart, even—into two. "But, wait, I thought sparkbonding was having kids."

"Yeah, it's that, too. The mixture of energies can sometimes spark little lives into the femme. It's very rare that couples don't get sparklings on the first try and usually there's at least three sparklings per bonding. You could always try again but that comes with a price. One spouse would most likely die or become heavily injured from the loss or gain of energon." Nova could see that she was slowly losing Mikaela. Now was the time for more analogies and similes.

"Okay, think of a battery, if you charge it too much, it could burn out. Then again, if the battery is too big, the thing supplying power could also burn out from giving everything it's got," she tried, smiling when she saw the "Ah-hah moment" on Mikaela's face.

"Well that sounds… scary," the girl gulped, thankful that she didn't have to go through such risks for a child. Then she remembered that women could die from giving birth to just one kid let alone three.

"There are a lot of precautions for those things so you don't need to worry. I'm going to be around for a long time," Nova reassured, rubbing her friend's arm from the sprawled position she held.

"So does that affect your eye color?" she asked, peering into the pool or purple Nova sported.

"Huh?"

"Eye color," she repeated, feeling that she should lie down, too. "I mean, Decepticons have red, Autobots have blue, what about you?"

"Oh," Nova breathed with a dropping tone. She hadn't wanted to get into this particular topic. It was a sore spot for her, something she was always conscious of. _This is Mikaela_, she reminded herself, _she's my friend. I can trust her._

"Um, well, Since 'Cons have red optics and they usually bond within the 'Con group, red is what you get, and vice versa for Autobots. Me, on the other hand, well, I guess I'm just glitched. I've seen yellow and occasionally green optics but that depends on where you're from. Cybertronians get one glance at me and automatically assume that I'm a 'Bot-'Con hybrid freak." Nova didn't mean to spit those words out so scornfully, despite the fact that it was the truth. Her voice started sounding thicker as she started building the dam to contain her emotions. It all flashed through her in a second, dousing the poor femme in horrible feelings that she was sure were burned from her memory core.

"Nova, are you okay?" Mikaela whispered, hearing the pace of her breathing hitch silently and how Nova seemed to be taking a pause so tears couldn't be detected.

Even if Mikaela couldn't see her, Nova shook her head. She shook with meaning behind every moved muscle.

"No, I'm not," she hummed if only to prevent her true feelings break through. "I-I hated everyone who looked down on me because I broadcasted a social taboo. And since Bumblebee had his fair share of glitches as well, people ridiculed us, our family name. We were just jokes to all of them." A bitter tear escaped and found refuge in the dips of Nova's ear. She almost reeled in shock from the abruptness of the tear. What was wrong with her? This happened so long ago, it didn't even matter anymore. But the pain, it was still there.

Oh no, what did she do? Mikaela panicked quietly, twisting her head to see the refugee adjacent to her. Nova's chest trembled with every breath and Mikaela couldn't help but feel that she caused that.

"Hey, don't do that," she started softly, reaching her hand down to grip Nova's. "If it's worth anything, I don't care what color eyes you have. In fact, I don't even care what kind of scars you carry behind you. I like the Nova I met just the way she is, purple and all."

"I can't tell you how many times I've heard _that _speech before," Nova chuckled wryly. Her hand unintentionally squeezed back with the teen's, as if it knew that it had to find comfort somewhere.

"But I actually mean it. I mean, come on!" she rasped as her vocal chords distorted her speech from lying down. "Your brother's a highly ranked scout and soldier, you're a lieutenant, and I'm pretty sure it's not every day a femme gets to have a Prime all to herself. You said it yourself, a Prime dates like a military strategy. He obviously couldn't see any other way to survive without you." She felt pretty proud of herself when those choice words escaped her throat. Mikaela could feel the air clear of the tension fog, making it easier to breathe without the tight, winding feeling of guilt found right under the sternum.

Nova lolled her head to match Mikaela's eyes with her own puffy, reddened ones. Who was this human to think her opinions and meek knowledge stood a chance against Nova's millennia upon millennia worth of experience? A better friend than anyone could wish for.

"Thanks, Miki. That… that really helped," she sniffled, rubbing the streaks of pain away from her face. It's like a compressing weight was lifted off the femme's chest and now she could finally breathe.

"Miki? That's cute. I think I'll start using it," Mikaela thought out loud, sitting up and lingering on the name. Now her mind started wandering again. Names are the very label to a person's personality. Maybe, if she ever had a little girl, she'd name her Miki. It represented someone fun and completely flexible in all aspects. She wondered what Cybertronian names represented. How were they chosen? Is there some sort of specific system? Did parents name their children after any old tool-shed apparatus? How did they even have children? Was it even possible without the All Spark? Nova told her once that the All Spark was their lifeblood. Does that mean they'll die without it?

"Nova?" Mikaela hummed, too far in her thoughts to even glance at the lounging femme.

"Hmm?"

"How… How would you conceive if the All Spark is gone? Can you, like, not have kids anymore?" she asked innocently.

Nova laughed shortly at the naïveté of the question.

"No, that's not how it works. We are an old race, we've evolved around the war. Sadly, that means we need to compromise. Since femmes have been scarce ever since the start of the war, mechs needed a way to keep the generations coming. The All Spark is needed if you're going to incubate the hatchlings without a femme. But if you're one of the lucky ones, you already have a femme who will have a hatchling incubate inside her." Nova was a teacher again, explaining for the young human to learn.

"So, like human pregnancies? Is there side effects, too?"

"Well, yes. Having a sparkling takes a lot of energon so expect crankiness and mood swings, the whole kit and caboodle. The only difference is that we don't have hormones but instead the carrying messes with a femme's CPU. Makes her go all crazy like," Nova tittered mostly to herself, not at all looking forward to the crazy state she'd be in if she ever carried.

"Oh, gosh, that's a lot of pressure then," Mikaela commented.

"What do you mean?"

"You're the only femme left, right?"

"Well, so far. I'm not really sure what happened to the femme ship, but it may have crossed fate's path, Primus bless their sparks," Nova answered, slowly following Miki's thought process.

"And there's no All Spark. So it stands to reason that you're going to _have _to supply the next generation, so to speak." Seeing that yet again she said the wrong thing, Mikaela tried blabbering her way out of this one. "But it'll be totally worth it. I promise. Besides, don't you _want_ to see small, happy faces that look like yours?"

"Nice save," Nova giggled, rising up gracefully. She just remembered that they had a job to do. "I guess it would be pretty cool to have sparklings." So this was her destiny set in stone, then? She was going to give birth to a new generation? _Frag no,_ Nova thought to herself,_ not until I'm fragging ready to bring life into this universe._

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><p>"You think we should tell Optimus?" a very nosy human asked his mechanical friend, walking away from the door they were snooping at. Bumblebee was strolling small, elongated strides in order for his human counterpart to keep up. He had already shifted back to bipedal mode in case a speedy getaway was needed.<p>

He whirred with shrugged shoulders, shaking his helm to advise against the boy. They didn't even know if Optimus was even going to propose to his sister, why jump to conclusions?

"Why not? He's the only Prime left, and she's the only femme," Sam spoke slowly, as if Bumblebee didn't already know what he was talking about. "This connecting anything in your brain? Or whatever it is you have?" He motioned putting two and two together with his hands, hoping it could somehow change Bee's entire attitude to agree with what Sam wanted.

Bumblebee waved a hand signifying a calm and collected "No," beeping and whistling so Sam could use context clues to clarify. Why rush love when it was inevitable? Bee knew that if ever he found a femme—doubtfully, with his sister being the only one he knew—he'd want to cherish the moments.

"Oh, come on! It's bound to happen!" Sam enunciated, emphasizing passionately with his hands.

"What's bound to happen?" Ratchet interrupted, walking into their conversation.

"Nova and Optimus did the nasty on the beach and he's going to propose to her," Sam blurted, earning a deathly whir from Bumblebee. The mech in question narrowed his optics in annoyance.

"Don't… Spread the rumors… It hurts them both… It'll slow them down…" Bumblebee spoke through radio, borrowing voices from both songs and interviews from political parties.

"No!" Ratchet unintentionally scolded heartily. "We can't let Optimus hear rumors like this. You are correct, Bumblebee, it will slow him down and turn out to be a repeat of when Nova was missing on Earth. Worst five months of my life." That was saying a lot considering the fact that Ratchet's life was longer than at least fifty generations of Witwickys.

Bumblebee agreed with him, nodding his helm vigorously. Ratchet half expected the helm to just fall off from the movements. The two mechs thought of how to stop this rumor before it started. The most obvious way was to stop the source. And just who exactly was the source?

"Um, I'm not liking the looks I'm getting, here," Sam spoke when the two, much larger than him, 'Bots began glaring at the boy.

Ratchet and Bee had the exact same thought as they inched closer to the human on the balcony.

"Get him!"

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><p><em>That's it for this one. Review if you want me to keep making small one shot's about their history or customs or whatever and what you want me to write them on.<em>

_P.S. Optimus and Nova are not yet getting married. It was a rumor and they don't even know if Optimus is going to propose or not. Just to clear up any confusion y'all had._

_**~Don't be a stranger ;D**_


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